Figures last checked: . Thresholds and the list of closed neighbourhoods change; the figures below describe the rules on that date and are not legal advice.
Start with the 90 days
Since a presidential decision published in December 2023, holders of an ordinary Saudi passport enter Turkey without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180 days. The 180 days are a rolling window, so two long stays a year are possible, not three, and a day trip to Georgia does not reset the counter. Your passport must be valid for at least 60 days beyond the permitted stay; the Turkish foreign ministry advises six months. Anyone who wants to stay longer, for whatever reason, needs a residence permit, the "ikamet", applied for before the 90 days run out.
What a home does for residence
Turkish immigration law allows a foreigner who owns a residential property to apply for a short-term residence permit, which agents market as "residence through property". The property must be a dwelling and must actually be used as one; family members who share the ownership can apply too. The official page mentions no value, but in practice there is one: for homes bought since 16 October 2023 the practical minimum is USD 200,000 across Turkey. Before that date it was USD 75,000 in the large cities and 50,000 elsewhere, and older purchases keep the old thresholds. Because no government page states the figure, confirm it with a Turkish lawyer before you build on it.
Ownership does not guarantee the permit. Every application is assessed individually, you need health insurance valid in Turkey and proof that you can support yourself, and permits are issued for up to two years and then renewed. It is important to know that Turkish residence does not touch your Saudi nationality in any way; it is a permission to stay, nothing more.
Closed neighbourhoods
Since 2022 Turkey has refused to register new addresses for foreign residents in neighbourhoods where foreigners make up more than roughly a fifth of the population. This matters to anyone who wants to live in the home rather than just visit it: you can buy the property, but you cannot register a residence permit at that address. And the list changes. The restriction on Istanbul's closed neighbourhoods was lifted on 10 June 2026, and several neighbourhoods in Alanya popular with foreign buyers were reopened the same month, but reports still name specific neighbourhoods as closed. Check the specific address with the migration directorate or a lawyer before you sign, not after.
Citizenship by investment
Turkey grants citizenship to foreigners who buy property worth at least USD 400,000, with an annotation on the deed not to sell for three years. This route has its own paperwork: a valuation report and a value confirmation document from the land registry, payment of the full price through a Turkish bank with a currency purchase certificate, and since December 2023 no agricultural land and no unbuilt plots. Then comes the citizenship application itself with the migration and civil registry authorities, after the purchase is registered. During 2026 Turkish politicians discussed replacing the citizenship incentive with a residence incentive; nothing had been enacted when this guide was written, but the debate is worth following if the programme is part of your plan.
Here the position of a Saudi national differs from that of a European or an American. Article 11 of the Saudi Arabian Nationality Law states that a Saudi may not acquire a foreign nationality without prior permission from the Prime Minister, and Article 13 makes acquiring another nationality without that permission a ground on which Saudi nationality may be withdrawn, after notice of at least three months. We are not saying that withdrawal happens automatically; the matter is discretionary. We are saying that Turkish citizenship by investment exposes a Saudi national to a real legal risk that others do not face, which is why most buyers from Saudi Arabia choose the residence through property route and leave the citizenship door closed. Any marketer who offers you "Turkish citizenship within three months" without mentioning Articles 11 and 13 is not working in your interest.
Living in Turkey and tax
Anyone who spends 183 days or more in Turkey in a calendar year is generally considered a tax resident there, and is in principle subject to Turkish tax on their worldwide income, including income in the Kingdom. That is a big shift for someone used to a country without personal income tax. There is a double taxation agreement between the two countries that determines who taxes what, but there is no Saudi tax to set against it, so the Turkish tax becomes a real cost. Anyone who lives in Turkey for fewer than 183 days, which is most summer home buyers, stays outside this and pays Turkish tax only on what they earn there, such as rent, as the letting guide explains. Have a Turkish accountant and an adviser in the Kingdom read the agreement for your situation before you decide to move.
Paying for a home you will live in
The financing does not change because you intend to stay: lira financing is still around 40 percent a year, and the usual route is still savings or personal financing in the Kingdom, as the financing guide explains. What changes is the order. If residence is the goal, the USD 200,000 threshold, the neighbourhood and health insurance belong in your search criteria from the first viewing, and the deed value, not the dollar price you negotiated, is what the migration directorate reads.
Checklist for those who want to stay longer
- Count your days: 90 in any rolling 180, and apply for the permit before they run out.
- Check that the deed value of the property reaches the practical USD 200,000 threshold if it was bought after 16 October 2023.
- Have the specific neighbourhood checked against the foreign resident limit before you sign.
- Arrange health insurance valid in Turkey.
- Do not consider the USD 400,000 citizenship route until you have read Articles 11 and 13 of the Saudi Nationality Law with a legal adviser in the Kingdom.
- Know that 183 days in Turkey make you a tax resident there, and plan for it with an accountant.
- Keep your Saudi documents current; a Turkish address exempts you from nothing in the Kingdom.
Questions buyers from Saudi Arabia ask
Further reading
What enquirers tell us about moving
Of the 356 enquiries that reached us through our network between 27 May and 9 October 2026, 92 named emigration as the purpose, and 10 of 285 written messages mentioned retirement explicitly. These are figures across our whole network, not Turkey or Saudi Arabia alone, but they show that the questions in this guide, the days, the permits and citizenship, come up in roughly one enquiry in four.
Who wrote this guide. Bas Terpstra writes, reviews and approves every guide, using AI tools and public sources as a starting point. Rules and amounts change, so treat this as general information and check the details for your own situation.
This guide is general information, not personal immigration, legal or tax advice. The thresholds mentioned are indicative and based on public sources from 2026. Turkey Mortgage Saudi is part of a Dutch company and is not a licensed financing provider in Saudi Arabia, not an estate agent and not a law firm.